WHO Says Monkeypox Cases Expected To Rise Exponentially In Coming Weeks. Study Shows New Monkeypox Strain Spreads Easily By Material Contamination!

Monkeypox News: As global cases of monkeypox in the last hour rises to more than 6,724 cases globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a warning that Monkeypox cases are expected to rise exponentially in coming weeks.


 
New Strain Of Monkeypox Exhibits Symptoms That Are Different From Infections In By Previous Strains In The African Continent
 
Researchers are puzzled as it seems that many who were infected perhaps much earlier are only just manifesting symptoms while it is also believed that many who were simply displaying minute symptoms, simply mistook it for other diseases or even their physicians might have misdiagnosed the infection.
 
A recent study published in the peer reviewed journal: Lancet has shown that many infected with the new highly mutated strain of monkeypox exhibit symptoms that are very different from infections involving the two earlier strains that are endemic in the African continent.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(22)00411-X/fulltext
 
The study showed that many infected with the new strain of monkeypox had a higher prevalence of skin lesions in the genital and anal area and lower prevalence of tiredness and fever than in cases from previously studied outbreaks of monkeypox.
 
The study team said that based on this findings, current case definitions for "probable cases" of monkeypox should be reviewed to help identify cases.
 
The study team also predict that the high prevalence of genital skin lesions in patients and the high rate of co-occurring sexually transmitted infections means that sexual health clinics are likely to see additional monkeypox cases in the future. They call for additional resources to support services in managing this condition.
 
Corresponding author, Dr Nicolo Girometti, from the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust told Thailand Medical News, "Currently, the UK and several other countries are seeing a rapid increase in monkeypox cases among individuals attending sexual health clinics, with no apparent links to countries where the disease is endemic. Monkeypox is a novel diagnosis within the sexual health setting and our study, the first to publish on cases from this UK outbreak, will support future case finding and clinical care.”
 
The study that involved 54 patients showed that all symptomatic and presented with skin lesions; 94% (49/52) of patients had at least one skin lesion on the genital or perianal skin. Mostly the patients had a mild illness and recovered whilst isolating at home, but five individuals required hospital admission due to pain or infection of the skin lesions. All improved and were discharged with a median of seven days of hospital admission.
 
Co-researcher, Dr Ruth Byrne, from the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust added, "The commonly observed symptom of skin lesions in the anal and penile areas, and the fact that a quarter of the patients tested positive for gonorrhea or chlamydia at the same time as the monkeypox infection, suggests that transmission of the monkeypox virus in this cohort is occurring from close skin-to-skin, for example in the context of sexual activity. However, this finding may be biased b y the fact that we are sexual health providers and hence may not reflect transmission in the wider population."
 
She added, "It is possible that at various stages of the infection monkeypox may mimic common STIs, such as herpes and syphilis, in its presentation. It's important that sexual health clinicians and patients are aware of the symptoms of monkeypox as misdiagnosis of the infection may prevent the opportunity for appropriate intervention and prevention of onward transmission. Additional resources are urgently required to support services in managing this condition."
 
The research also observed important differences in the clinical features of this cohort compared to previous cases reported from earlier outbreaks in other countries. A lower proportion of patients in this cohort reported feeling weak and tired and/or having a fever than in studies on cases in previous outbreaks. Additionally, 18% (10/54) of patients in this cohort did not report any early symptoms before the onset of skin lesions.
 
Dr Girometti says that "given the suggested route of infection via contact during sexual activity and the number of clinical findings differing from previous descriptions, we suggest that case definitions currently detailing symptoms such as acute illness with fever should be reviewed to best adapt to the current findings, as at least one in six of this cohort would have not met the current 'probable case' definition."
 
Monkeypox News: WHO Says Monkeypox Case Are Expected To Rise In Europe In Coming Weeks But Stops Short Of Declaring Monkeypox A Global Public Health Emergency
 
The WHO late Friday warned that urgent action is needed to contain the spread of monkeypox in Europe, as cases have tripled over the past two weeks and it expects to keep on rising exponentially in coming weeks.
 
The European continent is the center of a global outbreak of the virus with 90% of confirmed monkeypox cases reported there, according to the WHO.
 
New infections just in Europe have tripled since June 15 with 4,500 confirmed cases across 31 European nations as of Friday. (Note that in less than 48 hours, cases are still rising!)
 
The head of WHO Europe, Henri Kluge, called on governments to ramp efforts to prevent monkeypox from establishing itself on the continent, warning that time is of the essence.
 
He said, “Urgent and coordinated action is imperative if we are to turn a corner in the race to reverse the ongoing spread of this disease.”
 
The WHO on Saturday again declined to declare monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern, its highest alert level. However, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said monkeypox is an evolving health threat. Tedros called on governments to step up surveillance, contact tracing and to make sure people at high risk have access to vaccines and antivirals.
 
The head of WHO Europe said the WHO will likely reconsider whether monkeypox is global health emergency soon, given the “rapid evolution and emergency nature of the event.” He said 99% of monkeypox patients in Europe are men between the ages of 21 and 40. The majority of the patients who provided demographic information identified as men who have sex with men, he said.
 
The disease primarily spreads through close physical contact with much of the transmission in the current outbreak happening through sex. However, small numbers of cases have now been reported in which the patients did not catch the virus during sexual contact, Kluge said. Family members of infected individuals, heterosexual contacts as well as children have also caught the virus, he said.
 
To date, among patients where information was available on their status, nearly 10% were hospitalized for treatment or isolation and one patient ended up in an intensive care unit, Kluge said. Nobody in Europe has died so far from the virus, he said.
 
Monkeypox News: Monkeypox Vaccine Shortage
 
Contrary to claims by various health authorities in Europe and the United States, there is in fact an acute shortage of monkeypox vaccines as in some cases past stockpiles had either past their expiry date limits or were simply spoilt and there have been very efforts to restart manufacturing of these vaccines.
 
The shortage was witnessed even in New York City last week and is now becoming more apparent in various countries in Europe as well.
https://nypost.com/2022/06/24/nyc-to-run-out-of-monkeypox-vaccine-by-monday-awaits-biden-resupply
 
https://www.science.org/content/article/there-s-shortage-monkeypox-vaccine-could-one-dose-instead-two-suffice
 
Monkeypox News: Besides Sex, Monkeypox Can Also be Contracted Easily Via Contaminated Materials And Surfaces.
 
Despite the fact most of the case so far were detected in gay men (almost 96%), there now cases emerging of children and women contracting the disease and is believed that these via contaminated materials and surfaces.
 
In one study conducted in Germany conducted in a hospital setting, it was found that many surfaces in the hospital that were exposed to monkeypox infected patients were contaminated with the virus. https://www.eurosurveillance.org/content/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.26.2200477
 
The study team swabbed surfaces in the immediate and adjacent rooms of two hospitalized monkeypox patients in Germany. The patients' isolation rooms were separated from the ward corridor by anterooms, where hospital staff put their personal protective equipment on and off (donning and doffing).

Viral contamination with up to 105 viral copies/cm2 on inanimate surfaces was estimated by PCR and the virus was successfully isolated from surfaces with more than 106 copies.
 
The study findings showed that all the surfaces that the two patients had touched directly showed viral contamination, with the highest loads detected in both bathrooms (e.g. lever, washbasin, toilet seats). Fabrics such as towels, shirts or pillowcases that the patients used frequently also showed viral contamination.
 
The study team highlight that there currently are no definite data on what dose of virus leads to infection with monkeypox in humans. However, assumptions are that it requires a significantly higher dose to trigger infection than e.g. variola virus.
 
The team said, "Despite high contamination with up to 105 cp/cm2 as well as the successful recovery of monkeypox virus from samples with a total of >106 copies, our findings do not prove that infection can occur from contact with these surfaces. Additionally, detecting viral DNA by PCR "cannot be equated with infectious virus."
 
The team said that prevention of virus spread from symptomatic patients should be individually adapted. Based on their findings, the study team concluded that "regular disinfection of frequent hand and skin contact points during the care processes additional to regular room cleaning and surface disinfection using products with at least virucidal activity against enveloped viruses can reduce infectious virus on surfaces and thereby risk of nosocomial transmission."
 
Monkeypox News: Home Environment Of Infected Monkeypox Individuals Found To Be Heavily Contaminated By Virus, Putting Family Members And Loved Ones At High Risk
 
A recent UK study found that the environment of infected monkeypox individuals were found to be heavily contaminated by the monkeypox virus.
 
The study involved an imported case of monkeypox was diagnosed in December 2019 in a traveler returning from Nigeria to the UK. Subsequently, environmental sampling was performed at two adjoining single room residences occupied by the patient and his sibling. Monkeypox virus DNA was identified in multiple locations throughout both properties, and monkeypox virus was isolated from several samples three days after the patient was last in these locations. Positive samples were identified following use of both vacuum and surface sampling techniques; these methodologies allowed for environmental analysis of potentially contaminated porous and non-porous surfaces via real-time quantitative PCR analysis in addition to viral isolation to confirm the presence of infection-competent virus.
 
The study findings confirm the potential for infection-competent monkeypox virus to be recovered in environmental settings associated with known positive cases and the necessity for rapid environmental assessment to reduce potential exposure to close contacts and the general public.
 
Furthermore, the methods adopted in this investigation may be used for future confirmed cases of monkeypox in order to establish levels of contamination, confirm the presence of infection-competent material, and to identify locations requiring additional cleaning.
 
The study tea added that numerous imported cases of human monkeypox infection, an emerging infectious disease with a case fatality rate of up to 10%, have been identified in recent years including importations into the United Kingdom, the United States, Israel, and Singapore. It is likely that this phenomenon relates to decreased immunity against monkeypox infection in endemic regions that was previously provided via the smallpox vaccination programme. It is therefore likely that further imported cases of monkeypox will be reported in future; such occurrences will require significant clinical oversight, including suitable infection control measures.
 
The study team said that environmental sampling to identify contaminated sites that may pose a risk can inform infection control guidance. This report documents an environmental sampling response following an imported case detected in late 2019 in the UK. Monkeypox virus DNA was readily identified in numerous locations throughout two domestic residences associated with the infected patient and infectious virus was isolated from several environmental samples confirming that contaminated environmental settings may pose a risk for onward transmission.
 
The study findings were published on a preprint server and are currently being peer reviewed. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.06.27.22276202v1
 
The study findings also have numerous implications for instance, toilets in public toilets could be contamination hotspots for monkeypox and also gay venues could be very high-risk zones.
 
Monkeypox News: To Date No Evidence Of Airborne Transmission Of Monkeypox
 
Although past studies have also showed that the smallpox virus which belongs to the same family as the monkeypox virus and even a close ‘cousin’…the varicella-zooster virus could spread via airborne aerosol transmissions, researchers are still not sure if the monkeypox can actually spread vi airborne transmission.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7019718/
 
https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/39/11/1668/465225
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3509329/
 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/smallpox-virus
Although the monkeypox could also be possibly transmitted by airborne transmissions as previous studies had shown that the small pox virus which belongs to the small family could do so, there is to date no existing evidence to show that the new strain of monkeypox that is causing the current outbreak outside the African continent has evolved or mutated to be able to do so more.
 
Furthermore, there has been no published studies to show that the current new strain of monkeypox virus is capable of spreading via airborne transmission.
 
There are however some charlatans from a group called the World Health Network that has no authority over any public health issues and is led by a non-medically trained Jew from the NECSI, that are making claims that monkeypox is airborne transmitted and have hilariously declared the disease a global public health emergency although they lack any status to do so. The group has a number of dubious characters has among its members a certain Chinese online ‘expert’ in literally all matters from COVID-19, to the Russian-Ukraine War, to Abortion Issues and also Monkeypox!, and  they seem to have an agenda of being pro-lockdown and pro-vaccine coupled with the fact that some of their member organizations have been promoting dangerous treatment protocols including the use of fluvoxamine which is known to cause arrythmia to treat COVID-19 and also Long COVID although individuals although many studies have already shown that people belong to both groups are already having their hearts affected in so many ways by the virus and its effects and that administering such as drug to such individuals increases the risk for mortality!
https://www.thailandmedical.news/news/most-who-have-been-exposed-to-the-proteins-of-the-sars-cov-2-virus-will-have-shortened-lifespans-stop-using-fluvoxamine-for-ba-2-infections
 
Monkeypox News: Current Monkeypox Statistics
 
As on the last one hour, a total of 6724 cases have been identified across 54 countries.
 
In the list of the top 15 countries with the highest amount of monkeypox cases, Spain leads with 1520 cases, the United Kingdom with 1278 cases, Germany 1062 cases, France 498 cases, United States 481 cases, Portugal 415 cases, Netherlands 291 cases, Canada 287 cases, Italy 193 cases, Belgium 117 cases, Switzerland 91 cases, Brazil 64 cases, Israel 42 cases, Ireland 39 cases, Austria 37 cases.
 
Monkeypox News: China Steps Up Border And Interprovincial Screening For Monkeypox For All Travelers
 
China has announced that all travelers entering the country or travelling domestically between provinces will have to be tested for monkey pox with effect from the 1^st of July 2022. https://english.www.gov.cn/statecouncil/ministries/202207/02/content_WS62bfe428c6d02e533532d16b.html#:~:text=The%20authority%20stated%20the%20requirement,21%20days%20before%20entering%20China.
 
China is taking stringent measures to ensure that the monkeypox disease does not start spreading among its citizens.
 
Whereas in Thailand, the local authorities have been totally laxed and we have lots of dirty and filthy cheap travelers and sex tourists including gays originating from the United Kingdom and Germany coming into the country very easily as there seems to be no health screenings conducted at the airports etc. Sadly, the red-light areas in Thailand in cities like Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiangmai are once again starting to be crowded with such filth and we can expect some major outbreaks soon in Thailand including new SARS-CoV-2 variants, monkeypox, drug resistant gonorrhea and God know what else these filth from the United Kingdom and Germany are bringing!
 
For more on the latest Monkeypox News, keep on logging to Thailand Medical News.